Brent Bishop and his Labours of Love
by kingmonitor
Summary: Brent is homeless and on his own, until he discovers his true identity. He is sent on a quest of godlike proportions to find happiness and his true love.


My story begins a bit before where we are now. You see, my father, for one reason or another, never particularly cared for me. He said I always reminded him too much of my mother, but of course I never knew her so I didn't know. Eventually, I just left. Since then I've made my living on the streets, sleeping on benches, eating cold or old food, and just generally doing whatever to try and survive. It seems like a stupid thing to do, and maybe it was, but I felt that if I was going to be somewhere I wasn't wanted it'd be better if they didn't try to act like they care. Occasionally schools or churches take me in for a bit, get me cleaned up, and then toss me back out feeling better for themselves.

Summer had finally began, and with summer meant tourists I could sneak a few coins off of to buy myself some food. I looked just like a young bum, except my clothes were a bit newer thanks to that new church open on the other block. Currently I wore a green cap over my dirty blond hair which reached down to the back of my neck. I had a slight stubble on my face, blonde much like my hair. I also had on a dirty blue t-shirt and ripped up jeans, worn out Nike sneakers that at one point I believed were white but were now brownish and coming a bit loose.

I took a seat out front of a drug store on Fifth Avenue, setting my small wooden bowl on the ground and just generally trying to look miserable, which was something I'd picked up easily. I sat there for hours and managed to scrape up about five dollars, enough for a bit of food. I stood up then and was about to enter the store when a very beautiful woman stopped in front of me. That was about as much as I could describe her. She looked just like every woman I'd seen on those magazines in the store. She had curly blonde hair that came down her back, wearing a nice dress that wasn't too flashy but would draw attention to it. She smiled at me. "You poor dear. Don't worry, your time will come soon. I can feel it." And she dropped something inside of the bowl and left.

I looked inside and pulled out a small gold coin with writing I could just barely make out. On the back was an image of the Empire State Building and on the other side a bearded man. I entered the store and bought a hot dog, or at least that's what he told me, and a drink, sitting outside and beginning to eat. An officer came over to me now. He seemed a bit out of place though, since normally they cops either ignored us or had rounds on different streets at this time. Regardless he came over. "Come with me." Was all he said.

I finished eating quickly and stood up, following him to the alley he went near then followed him inside. "Sir...umm...what exactly did I do? I wasn't loitering, I was just finishing the food I just bought." He said nothing, turning to look at me once we were at the end. "Hands on the wall." I turned and placed them there. I waited, though the officer said nothing and didn't even pat me down. Eventually I turned to look at him. "Listen, if this is just a joke I'm not..."

I lost my words as I looked at him, except now he was twice as tall, with six arms and long shaggy hair and just horrible teeth. He growled now and tried to hit me with all six of his arms but my body sprang into action, turning my body off to the side and dodging his strike. I ran from the alley and tackled some guy to the ground. I groaned and turned over, looking to the poor guy I just creamed into the sidewalk. I'm not a big guy, well, 5'8" but not a lot of muscle there. Regardless the guy laid out on the ground. He had a short military haircut, black as coal. He wore an orange t-shirt with a winged horse on it and jeans.

The officer, if you want to call him that, came barreling out of the alley. He was twice as big as when I left him, standing at a mighty eight feet tall, wearing a giant blue loincloth with a badge hanging from the end. I got to the guy and helped him up. "Hurry! Get up!" The guy mumbled something but didn't budge. And I surely couldn't drag him the guy was like six feet tall and mostly muscle. I looked up at the giant officer now, gulping nervously now as he laughed. "You're mine, half-blood."

I didn't know what he meant but I didn't like the sound of it. Then I remembered the woman and I took the coin out of my pocket, tossing my coin directly at him, though it bounced harmlessly off of his chest. "So much for plan B." As I backed up my hand brushed a long wooden shaft. I looked down to see a spear tipped gold at the top. I took it up and the monster wavered as I pointed it at him. "Just go away, I don't want to hurt you and I'm sure you don't want to get stabbed."

The monster got a bit of a confused look on his face now. "I don't want to get stabbed." He then walked down the street like nothing happened. Frankly I was just as confused now but something else pulled me out of my daze, a heavily male voice speaking to me. "Hey!" I looked down, seeing the guy getting up. "Give me back my spear." I handed it back to him. "Err, sorry about the whole bumping into you think. On the bright side that giant left us alone."

That seemed to get his attention, looking down the street to see the giant disappear between some buildings. "What in Hades did you do?" I shrugged. "I told him to go away." The guy frowned a bit then leaned on the spear slightly. "What's your name?" I scratched my head now, making sure no one else just happened to be in the area. I didn't like giving my real name, just on the off chance that someone may try to return me to my father if he was looking for me. "Brent...Brent Bishop."

The guy's eyes widened then he smiled. "Well, that's convenient, you're just the man I'm looking for." I backed up. "Who are you? You're not here because of my father, are you?" The man shook his head. "No, no. I'm here to bring you to camp. I'm Brock, Brock Watts." I raised an eyebrow now. "Camp?" He nodded. "Haven't you noticed that you aren't like the others. That you always see more than them. That maybe you have some sort of ability that makes monsters walk away like that?"

I nodded uneasily. He patted me on the back hard. "You're a half-blood my friend. Child of man and of the gods. Your mother is a goddess, literally. And because of that monsters are going to come after you, and without proper training you'll end up dead. It's a miracle you survived this long." He pulled out a whistle and blew it but I didn't hear anything. He stood there explaining different training things I'd have to do while there and everything else but soon a shadow descended over us and a horse with wings stood there on the sidewalk. Passersby didn't pay it much mind and most probably thought it was just a black mustang.

Brock climbed onto his back and held his hand out, pulling me up. "Hang on, this one is a bit wild." And with that we were flying over New York in speeds I thought were impossible. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, not too much of a fan of heights but I still liked the view. Soon we were out of the city and into a more backwoods area of New York I didn't even know existed. Soon, we landed at what I assumed were the stables. Brock got off and helped me off now. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, where you will finally get the training you need." I stared in aww at all the stuff before me. Training areas, archery ranges, and numerous other things all tied together in a valley near Island Sound. I saw kids younger then I being trained by a few kids my age."

"Aren't I a bit old? I mean I am 18, isn't there a rule against that sort of thing?" He shook his head. "When you need training you need training, this is the only safe place for demigods like us. Now, let's go introduce you to Chiron."


End file.
